Wal-Mart Cutting Health Benefits to Some Part-Time Employees

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Nick Turner and Renee Dudley Oct 7, 2014 11:08 AM ET

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, plans to stop offering health benefits to U.S. employees who work less than 30 hours a week, becoming the latest company to cut coverage in response to the Obamacare law.

The change, which affects about 30,000 workers, is in line with what other retailers are doing, including Target Corp. (TGT), Home Depot Inc. (HD) and Walgreen Co. (WAG), the company said today on its website. Wal-Mart will rely on the firm HealthCompare Insurance Services Inc. to help employees find replacement coverage.

“We don’t make these decisions lightly, and the fact remains that our plans exceed those of our peers in the retail industry,” Sally Welborn, senior vice president of global benefits for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company, said on its internal blog.

The U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, doesn’t require companies to cover part-time workers, and offering them health plans may disqualify those people from subsidies in government-run insurance exchanges that opened last year. Today’s move by Wal-Mart will affect about 2 percent of its 1.3 million U.S. employees.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/wal-mart-will-cut-health-benefits-to-some-part-time-employees.html

[bigdarryl]

1. They can get there own healthcare through the ACA FUCK Walmart

[freebrew]

2. More taxpayer support for Wal-Mart? nt

[greymattermom]

3. I hope no Walmart employee shows up at work with a fever etc.

Is this really a good business decision in the time of epidemic panic?

[KeepItReal]

4. Can't let those pesky employees mess with your $4 billion in profit made last quarter, right?

Last quarter *alone* they had a $4.09 billion profit.

The company paid $1.55 billion in dividends and repurchased approximately 4 million shares for $307 million in the second quarter. In total, the company returned approximately $1.9 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. (Source)


The company said then that it expected to spend $500 million on U.S. healthcare this year, up from $330 million estimated in February, as enrollments and medical costs rise. (Source)


In short, Wal-Mart spends on healthcare for the year, the same amount they spent in 3 months buying back shares of stock.

[benld74]

5. We don’t make these decisions lightly-we just want more $$$ for the Corporation

PIGS

[littlewolf]

6. just following the trend of everyone else.

not many companies offer bennies for PT (under 30 hours) workers.
so walmart instead of leading by example, is following the herd.

[LongTomH]

7. Don't, for one picosecond, think that this will mean even a one-cent reduction in prices............

......at Wally World, Home Despot or any of the other retailers offering Dickensian wages and working conditions.

[gerogie2]

8. The States or federal government need a flat tax on employers...

that don't provide health care benefits to all of their employees. It could be 10% tax on the employer for their uninsured employees wages or a percentage of their revenue. If that is done then businesses will not have employees without health insurance benefits. They will have them work full time+ since it will cost them the same either way.

[cstanleytech]

9. Wont happen with the republicans in charge though. I do wonder though if

the president has the power to tweak the EBT program to use it to entice some of the retailers like walmart to pay their employees a better wage say by telling them if they have a certain % are earning under the poverty level that said retail will be barred from accepting EBT.

[greatlaurel]

10. Walmart is failing fast, unload any Walmart stock, if you have it, very soon.

If they are slashing employee benefits while claiming to make a profit, there is something very wrong in the bowels of that corporation. A couple of weeks ago they announced all the employees were going to be forced to buy new work uniforms from Walmart. A healthy business does not need to resort to those types of scams to turn a profit. Walmart is going down much faster than I thought they would. Sam's kids do not know how to manage their way out of a paper bag. Rich kids usually do not learn how to do anything productive and they have never had any person stand up to them and tell them their ideas are stupid.

Good luck to all the persons employed by Walmart. I feel very sorry for them having to work there and I am very afraid for their financial futures as Walmart self destructs.

[blkmusclmachine]

11. Of course Wal Mart is cutting benefits. The CEOs need new 1500' yachts and private jets.

[Sparhawk60]

12. It is For the Good of the Workers!

"offering them health plans may disqualify those people from subsidies in government-run insurance exchanges that opened last year. "

Wal-mart has only the good of the workers at heart. This brave, nay, courageous move on part of wal-mart will allow their workers to receive even more tax payer subsidies. I say management deserve our hearty thanks for a job well done.


/sarcasm off

[Uben]

13. Great, now we have even more of their employees to subsidize....

We need to charge Walmart for everyone of their employees on assistance. The Waltons have been living off the governmental "teat" for decades. I think its time we make Walmart carry their own water!